Blog 1 For ISU

http://www.torontosun.com/2015/03/02/mother-of-dead-teen-sues-ex-for-improperly-stored-rifle

Why I Selected This Article

I selected this article because it is astoundingly similar to what happened in my book. It connects to my book in so many ways the first being that it took place in Canada and because it is extremely rare to hear about a gun related suicide in Canada because access to guns is so limited. It isn't how it is in the United States where there are multiple gun related suicides every year and access to guns is so easy and how anyone could purchase one and use it for many different evil intents. This article is just so similar to what happened in my book if I didn't know better I'd think that the author based his book on this event.

How It Connects To The Social Issue/Novel

This article connects well to my book because it is almost a retell of what happened in my book. In the article the teen that committed suicide had anxiety issues and was also under a lot of pressure just like the character in my book, Stefan (Jace's Brother) who was also under a tremendous amount of pressure just because so much was expected of him. He was the captain of the University hockey team and a Triple A hockey team (The highest level of Junior Hockey) with a bright future in sports ahead of him. Also if that hadn't worked out he was also a brilliant student always at the top of his class with a 4.0 GPA, class president and valedictorian for his graduating class. Which lead him to just want to let go of everything and with a rifle, just like the boy in the news article, he shot himself in the garage. Both of these things took place in Canada and they were both extremely strange for Canadian's as suicide by gun is very rare. They both also connect to the social issue of how you should never put too much pressure on a child but just let them enjoy life and perform to the best of their abilities. Not too roll them out too thin, like Stefan who had no time to himself  and just wasn't liking the life that he was living. Just how in the article the teen had anxiety issues which are also cause by extreme pressure on someone. So all in all suicide and death is not the fault of the person who is taking their life but the fault of everyone around them that has put them under intense pressure and not taken proper care of them.

“There are stories in our silences

The things that don’t get said

speak louder than we ever dream they can

They echo through the space between

the place I long to be

and this never-ending empty where I am” – lyrics by Leah Delaney

This quote is explaining how there are things that play loud and this applies to the other characters in my book who were all in the house when Stefan committed suicide and how it affects the people around the dead forever and how it is impossible to forget about what happened and they echo "in the space between" which is the emptiness of where the person left, where the person who died belonged.

This picture shows how the teen is under immense pressure and when they have a gun they see that it is the easy way out but they don't understand the effects that it has on everyone around them. The bottom line is that you shouldn't allow anyone to pressure you and if you are under pressure, talk about it.